Duanshujun received sponsorship from a local Ford dealership in 2009 to do a swing from the deck of the 180 meter high Maguohe Bridge north of Kunming City.

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Duanshujun received sponsorship from a local Ford dealership in 2012 to do a swing from the deck of the 180 meter high Maguohe Bridge north of Kunming City.

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In 2014 Duanshujun recalls his 2009 swing jump during a visit to the bridge with interpreter Jorson and myself. Image by Duanshujun's assistant.

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In 2014 Duanshujun recalls his 2012 swing jump during a visit to the bridge with interpreter Jorson and myself. Image by Duanshujun's assistant.

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Duanshujun's 2009 Maguohe Bridge Swing<br />

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Duanshujun's 2012 Maguohe Bridge Swing<br />

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In August of 2014 I joined Duanshujun on a preliminary inspection of the bridge. After several more months of planning Duanshujun finally made the biggest swing jump in Chinese history on November XX, 2014 with his assistant. The jump became the subject of an hour long CCTV4 special. We hope to do a swing twice as large from the Beipanjiang Bridge Duge. Image by Duanshujun's assistant.

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In August of 2014 I joined Duanshujun on a preliminary inspection of the Nanpanjiang bridge. After several more months of planning Duanshujun finally made the biggest swing jump in Chinese history in October, 2014 with his assistant. The jump became the subject of an hour long CCTV4 special that was broadcast November 27,2014. We hope to do a swing twice as large from the Beipanjiang Bridge Duge. Image by Duanshujun's assistant.

Revision as of 03:17, 2 January 2015

Toppling all previous spans for height, the new Beipanjiang Bridge Duge will open in 2016 as the first crossing to ever surpass the 500 meter height barrier as well as becoming the first cable stayed bridge to ever hold the title of The World’s Highest Bridge.

No other region on earth has as many high bridges as China’s remote Western Province of Guizhou and there is no waterway within its borders with a greater collection of super-high bridge spans than the mighty Beipan River. Translated as the North Winding River, the BeipanJiang flows on a North-South rift that divides the Western and Eastern halves of Guizhou. The vertical limestone cliffs drop so deep that much of the river is in shadow during the day. Spaced every 50 kilometers along its length are a collection of epic road and railway bridges that have pushed the boundaries of China’s bridge engineering community.

Due to be completed in 2016, the G56 expressway is the last of Guizhou’s great East-West routes that will allow easy access into nearby Yunnan Province across terrain that was previously inaccessible to normal cars and trucks. The entire 4-lane divided highway stretches an incredible 2,935 kilometers from the city of Hanghzou near Shanghai to the border of Burma near Tibet. The extreme geography along the G56 has produced not only the world’s highest bridge over the Beipanjiang River near Duge, Guizhou but also the World’s Highest Suspension Bridge several kilometers further west near Puli, Yunnan.

All of this high bridge insanity began in 2001 when the mighty beast of the Beipan River summoned the construction of the World’s Highest Railway Bridge some 275 meters above a boulder-strewn crevasse on the Shuibai Railway. Two years later that triumph was followed by the river’s first road bridge record when the Beipanjiang Bridge Huajiang opened in 2003 surpassing the 300 meter height threshold as well as becoming the first suspension bridge in the world to surpass the height of Colorado’s Royal Gorge bridge after a 74-year reign.

This was followed by a succession of bridges both high and super-high including the Beipanjiang Bridge Hukun on the G60 expressway, the Beipanjiang Bridge on the Shuipan expressway with the world’s longest span high-level beam bridge, the Beipanjiang Bridge Wang’an expressway and the Beipanjiang Bridge Zhenfeng.

But in 2016 the Beipan will deliver its two biggest high bridge gifts ever in the form of the Beipanjiang Railway Bridge Qinglong - the world’s highest “High-Speed” railway bridge at 295 meters and the colossal Beipanjiang Bridge Duge at 564 meters in height. Other engineering honors Duge can claim include having the second longest steel trussed cable stayed span and the tenth tallest bridge tower in the world at 269 meters.

Until the year 2000, the experience of traveling around Guizhou was a grueling and arduous one that often took days along a dangerous network of older, 2-lane national roads. Despite a land mass slightly smaller then Great Britain or the U.S. state of Washington this outdated infrastructure limited the kind of growth that had been underway in the Eastern Provinces where accessibility had been improving steadily and rapidly since the early 1990s.

The first hint of Guizhou’s high bridge aspirations came in 2001 when the Liuguanghe beam bridge opened as the World’s Highest Bridge on a 2-lane expressway between the capital city of Guiyang and the smaller county of Bijie in the Northwest corner of the Province. In the 15 years that followed, expressway construction went into full gear with four and now six-lane expressways connecting cities both large and small regardless of how difficult the mountain terrain may be. An old saying states that in Guizhou there are no three days without rain, no three acres without a mountain and no three coins in any pocket. They may have to amend that and add that there are no three kilometers of expressway without a high bridge!

Today the Province of Guizhou is home to more high bridges then every other country on earth combined. By 2020 Guizhou will have more then 250 bridges over 100 meters high as measured from the road or rail deck to the water. Compare that with Italy which has the world’s second greatest number of high bridges with only 40 spans exceeding 100 meters in height. Of the world’s 20 super-high spans that exceed 300 meters from deck to water, all are in China except for 3.

A rare view of the Beipan during a drought in 2013 exposes rocks and sandbars that are usually hidden from view. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

WORLD RECORD BUNGEE JUMP!

To celebrate the completion of the World’s Highest Bridge in 2016, famous Chinese bungee jumper Duanshujun of Kunming and HighestBridges.com creator Eric Sakowski will attempt the highest bungee jump ever taken from a bridge.

Working with the Liupanshui City and the Shuicheng County Sports and Tourism officials as well as the Guizhou Highway Department, this World Record will be the first fixed object bungy fall to topple not only the 400 meter barrier but the first to shatter the 500 meter height threshold.

Duanshujun was recently featured in an hour long CCTV4 special that was broadcast all over China in late 2014 and covered his career of both bungee and bridge swinging including his latest conquest, a 100 meter swing from the Nanpanjiang Bridge Yiliang with his assistant.

His most notable bungee jump took place in 2012 when he made an unofficial world record fixed object bungy jump of at least 300 meters from the Balinghe Bridge in Guizhou Province. His small crew rigged the bungee cord in the early hours of the morning under the cover of night. Although the jump was never officially measured, Duanshun was likely the first person to ever drop more then 300 meters from a fixed object using an 85 meter long bungee cord.

In 2016 we are hoping to almost double the Balinghe Bridge Bungy with a drop from the Beipanjiang Bridge that may reach 550 meters. Follow us here with the latest news and updates as we get closer to our attempt to take the biggest plunge in bungee history!

Duanshujun eyes his greatest challenge, the 564 meter drop from the deck of the Beipanjiang Bridge! Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

We were grateful to get a special hardhat tour of the Beipanjiang Bridge site by Mr. Wang who is the head supervisor overseeing the entire construction of the bridge. Image from Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

A promotional image we are working on for the jump. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

The bottom of the real canyon where we will attempt several drops of over 500 meters! Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

Another promotional idea. Despite my planning to lose more then 40 pounds for the jump, we are going to make 2 separate cords, one for lighter and one for heavier jumpers. We also hope to do the World's Highest Swing Jump. Drawing by Martin Archer.

We really appreciated everyone from the Liupanshui City Tourism and Sports Authority who showed up to meet with us and discuss our plans to hold this World Record Bungee Event. Image by Duanshujun's assistant.

Image by Duanshujun's assistant.

Our group enjoyed a wonderful dinner that was hosted by the gracious Mrs. Tang who was previously the leader of the Liupanshui City Tourism Department. Image from Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

Our group ate in a special restaurant where regional hot pot dishes unique to Liupanshui are served to guests with aprons that protect you from popping hot grease. Image from Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

Duanshujun's 2012 Balinghe Bridge Bungee Jump

Duanshujun and his crew quickly rigged up the Balinghe Bridge jump in the early hours of the morning. Image from Duanshujun.

A last minute check of the cord just after dawn. Image from Duanshujun.

Duanshujun takes the leap! Image from Duanshujun.

Duanshujun was lowered down to the bottom by rope. Image from Duanshujun.

A 300 meter jump and an unofficial new World Record for Highest Fixed Object Bungee Jump. In 2016 we hope to make it an official Guinness World Record. Image from Duanshujun.

Duanshujun's 2012 Maguohe Bridge Swing

Duanshujun received sponsorship from a local Ford dealership in 2012 to do a swing from the deck of the 180 meter high Maguohe Bridge north of Kunming City.

Maguohe Bridge.

Image from Duanshujun.

Image from Duanshujun.

In 2014 Duanshujun recalls his 2012 swing jump during a visit to the bridge with interpreter Jorson and myself. Image by Duanshujun's assistant.

Duanshujun's 2012 Maguohe Bridge Swing

In 2014 Duanshujun began plans to break his previous swing jump record by falling more then 100 meters on a cord from the deck of the Nanpanjiang Bridge Yiliang.

In August of 2014 I joined Duanshujun on a preliminary inspection of the Nanpanjiang bridge. After several more months of planning Duanshujun finally made the biggest swing jump in Chinese history in October, 2014 with his assistant. The jump became the subject of an hour long CCTV4 special that was broadcast November 27,2014. We hope to do a swing twice as large from the Beipanjiang Bridge Duge. Image by Duanshujun's assistant.

Image from Duanshujun.

Image from Duanshujun.

Image from Duanshujun.

Image from Duanshujun.

Map of the Beipanjiang Bridge Duge water pipeline trail.

VISITING THE BEIPANJIANG BRIDGE DUGE ON THE PIPELINE TRAIL

To really appreciate the awesome scale and beauty of the Beipanjiang Bridge Duge and its surroundings, there is a short 2 kilometer trail along the west side of the river that leads to some spectacular vantage points at the bottom of the gorge over 500 meters below the bridge deck. This narrow but level trail is used by a few of the farmers who live near the confluence of the Beipan and Gexiang Rivers. Two small suspension footbridges cross both rivers.

To reach the water pipeline trail head you will need to drive south on local road S212 for 30 minutes from Liupanshui City to the small town of Dugexiang. After crossing the Beipan River on a small beam bridge continue north on S212 a few hundred meters and turn right into the water power building entrance and park.

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

The Beipanjiang water level was at 1919 meters near Duge city in August of 2013. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

Giant house-sized boulders can be seen during unusually low water levels in 2013. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com

During heavy rains these swimmers would be swept away. Image by Eric Sakowski / HighestBridges.com